New trends in physics teaching, v.4; The ... - unesdoc - Unesco

New Trends in Physics Teaching IV
necessary to the introduction of a new topic like energy into the curriculum? Where will the
knowledgeable staff come from?
4. Materials development: How can it be assured that the broad range of viewpoints on the
complex economic, environmental and social energy-related issues wil be incorporated into
energy education materials? In an era of quick change, how can these materials be ke.pt up to date?
5. Evaluation: Should the energy education materials made available to schools and teachers
be evaluated as to accuracy, objectivity, and pedagogical effectiveness? Who should perform this
function?
We hope that the private sector, the electricity and gas supply companies, oil companies, coal
companies and all the other companies whose major product or raw material is energy, will pick
up some of the slack. There is some optimistic evidence to support this hope. The energy industry
associations have all increased their activity.
The private sector may provide the major support needed to answer the second question. NSTA
and ECS [31] are circulating a joint proposal to API members for the establishment of a network/clearinghouse
operation. Substantial funding for that effort has already been received.
Even with unprecedented co-operation and support from the private sector, however, energy
education is likely to change drastically in the coming years. There are areas in which the energy
companies operate with little or no enthusiasm: the environmental and negative social impact
of energy policy wil be difficult to present objectively; some industries wish to emphasize
production over conservation; the nuclear controversy wil be difficult to handle in classroom
materials; and questions 1, 3 and 5 above fall outside the usual pattern of private sector support.
What wil happen?
Energy education, like the energy situation itself, is going through a tumultuous transition in
the United States. But energy education is well under way and thousands of teachers are participating.
The new mood in the country, however, may cause it to quickly lose momentum as the
federal push weakens.
One of its weaknesses is a lack of professional identity. Coming from a variety of backgrounds,
energy educators have not banded together to establish a political base. Maybe that is needed.
Their identity is at present threatened by a DOE decision to reduce or even eliminate its support
of Energy & Education. This newsletter to a large,degree is the central image-giving mechanism
of the field. One test of the determination of American energy educators wil be to find out
whether that newsletter can be supported by subscription. Such a test may be necessary.
In addition to the lack of professional identity, there is a lack of evaluative baseline data.
There are no general data on student knowledge or attitudes on the broad energy questions.
There are no data on the percentages of teachers or schools seriously involved in energy education.
There are no data on the impact of existing materials on student knowledge and attitude. Whether
such studies wil be undertaken is one of the unanswered questions at this point.
Success is always a possibility
It may be that the task taken on by those who call themselves energy educators is nearer successful
completion than we realize. It may be that we have already demonstrated to teachers that
energy themes can fit easily into the curriculum in many places, Perhaps the examples that have
been developed wil lead to a steady stream of both more and more sophisticated materials
from teachers and textbook authors.
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